Hollow Victory
by draco453
Summary: When an old evil returns stronger than ever, will the Digidestined be able to fend it off without digging deep into a forgotten past?
1. Gathering Clouds

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon**

**_Gathering Clouds_**

Davis was surrounded, there was nowhere he could go. Anywhere he went would result in instant death, while the only safe method was clearly a trap. He could see the sinister sneer of his opponent, already confident with inevitable victory.

The leader of the younger Digidestined grinned and figured out his move. "Don't think you've won yet Ken!"

His opponent raised an eyebrow with curiosity, the situation was hopeless. There was no way he could get out of it. "Impossible, there's nowhere to run."

Davis grinned and unleashed his secret plan. "Idiot you left your units in a row, my king can chain jump and capture them all for victory!"

"That's not how the king works Davis." Tk groaned.

"But the king can move forwards and backwards, I read it in the rulebook." Davis insisted.

"Davis," Ken sighed, "We're playing chess, not checkers."

"There's a difference?"

Davis and Tk started to bicker like usual and Ken attempted to mediate. Situations like these had become regular ever since the Digidestined defeated Malomyotismon. The Digital World and the Human world were still uneasy with one another, but there was no immediate threat coming from either of them. No other threat of evil had appeared either… at least not until that day.

While the argument reached its peak a loud crash came from the other room, silencing the argument.

"Help me!" A muffled voice cried out. "Help!"

The boys rushed out of the room to check what was wrong and became shocked at the scene. Somehow, Demiveemon got his head stuck in a jar. Patamon and Wormmon struggled to pull it off of his head.

"Aw man, did you get into the peanut butter again." Davis groaned.

"N… no." The blue Digimon mumbled inside of the jar.

"Whatever." Davis replied, taking over in trying to help his partner. After a little while, the jar popped off.

"I'm free!" Demiveemon cheered and started jumping around happily around his partner, before tripping and staining Davis's clothes with peanut butter marks.

"Ah, Demiveemon! Stop it!" He complained, encouraging his partner to continue smearing food all over his partner's shirt.

_How carefree_. The onlookers thought as they watched the duo and their antics.

"AGGH!" Davis groaned, falling on his bed in a fresh change of clothing. "Where is everyone? I'm getting bored!"

"Bored!" Demiveemon repeated.

"Come on Davis, settle down." Ken sighed. "It's not like we're prepping for the end of the world."

"Of course, this is more important." Davis said. "It's been a while since we've all seen each other and I can't wait!"

"Davis, it's been a week." Tk sighed. "Remember, we got together after school and played in the Digital World."

"Yeah, and then that village caught fire and we had to deal with that. And then there was the massive hailstorm in the desert, and the time before that a random explosion started a giant forest fire, and don't even get me started on the earthquake clean up that took forever. It seems like every time we get together and relax something bad always has to happen to the Digital World. It's been like that ever since we beat tall, dark, and ugly and it never stops." Davis complained. "So is it a bad thing to wish that we'd have some fun before the inevitable happens this time."

The listeners were speechless. "I don't believe it." Tk said.

"What? That Davis used a five syllable word?" Ken asked to Davis's annoyance.

"No, not that. He has a point. Things have been pretty busy in the last couple of weeks. I wonder why?"

While Tk and the others were pondering on Davis's latest rant, a fierce pounding hammered away on the door with urgency. "Are the others already back?" Ken said as he went to the door.

He opened it door and felt something suddenly hit his chest. He yelled in shock as the unexpected weight rammed into him and knocked him off balance.

"What was that for?" He groaned weakly.

"Because you're such a gentleman for carrying in all of this food." Yolie said as she stepped over Ken, accidently hitting him in the head with another bag of groceries. Kari and Cody arrived as well, though they helped get some of the heavy bags from him.

"Great! We're all here, what should we do first? Davis asked as he helped his friend up.

"Snacks!" Demiveemon exclaimed as he charged into the bags and started eating.

"Save some for me!" The others said as they followed suit.

"Hey, I want some!" Davis cried out as he joined the rumble for food, accidently forgetting about Ken.

"Don't worry guys I brought some for us." Yolie said proudly as she held up a bag. "We won't go hungry today."

"Great." Tk said. "Now help he with Ken, he looks like he's in pain."

After the binge, the young Digidestined started to play video games. While the humans were having fun, their Digimon hung out in their own little group and played some games of their own.

"Davis! That is SO cheating!" Yolie exclaimed when Davis pulled off a difficult combo on their fighting game. "Come on and fight me fair and square."

"And get creamed instantly? No way, these items are the best. They're like shortcuts for winning." Davis bragged.

"If you beat someone with a cheap move then that only hurts you." Cody said wisely. "That kind of hollow victory will only benefit your enemy than yourself."

"Whatever." Davis scoffed as he attempted to use the same move on Yolie, only to see that she learned from the last time and avoided it. Defenseless, Davis got creamed.

"I told you. They'll bite you back if you don't beat them properly the first time." Cody reminded. "Now hand it over, it's my turn."

Davis slumped to the corner and sighed. He watched his friends all having a good time and felt glad that he set this day up. _This is just what we needed. Some time to relax and unwind from all the disasters that occurred. So far so good, nothing bad has happened yet._

_Yet._

As if on cue, the fighting game disappeared in a screen of static. A figure appeared in the screen behind the static.

"(static)- Hello, Digidestined. (static)- It's been a while."

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

The tall young man yawned as he walked through the bustling city streets. His larger than life brown hair was only contained by a strap of goggles. He had a soccer bag slung over his shoulders and a Digivice hanging on his hip. He wore a blue shirt decorated with orange stars.

"Lost." He murmured. "We're completely lost buddy."

"Are we going to be late?" The Digimon in his bag murmured.

"Most likely Koromon." Tai sighed. "Oh, man. They are going to be pissed."

That day, Mimi arriving in Japan today, and the original Digidestined planned to meet her at the Tokyo Airport. While the rest managed to get their before the meeting time they set, their fearless leader managed to get lost.

He shivered, imagining the scolding that he was going to get and started to advance through the crowd. In his haste he didn't notice the crowd splitting off in front of him.

"Excuse-me-let-me-through-please!" A voice exclaimed in rapid fire. As the crowd split in front of him, he could only see a brown haired girl in a wheelchair charging at him. There was no time for him to get out of the way, which resulted in him crashing into her.

"Are you alright?" He asked. The girl gave in a brief apology as she picked up her bag, reset her chair, and started to roll away.

Tai picked up his own bag and watched as she parted the crowd again. "That was a weird encounter, right buddy?" He question was met with silence. "Come on Koromon say something." He said as he opened the bag. His face paled when he noticed that the bag contained nothing but soccer cleats and a soccer ball. Though it's round, it's not his partner.

Instantly he charged and chased after the girl. "Hey wait!" He exclaimed as he set all of his skills of running and dodging to the test.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

"I'm here!" Rei exclaimed as she met her friend and her brother. They stood in a vacant field and met with her when she arrived. "Did you two wait long? I got here as fast as I could."

The two boys shared a look. "Nope. Neo and I just got here a few minutes before you did." A boy with black hair said, despite the fact that they were waiting for nearly half an hour.

"Great, Hideto." Neo said, slicking back his white bleached hair. "It's time to settle this once and for all." He chuckled darkly.

"Neo, if you were trying to act cool, it came off more as creepy."

"More like disturbing." Hideto jabbed.

Neo became flushed. "Whatever, let's start the match." He unzipped the bag, stared at the contents for a moment, and zipped it again. After that, he threw it to Hideto who did the same actions before handing it back to Rei.

"What?" She asked before looking in the bag, and pulling out a round stuffed animal by the ears. "Is this? It's so cute. Where could it have come… Oh, It must have been that guy's bag… Oops."

"What guy?" Neo asked.

At that moment, Tai reached the field, panting heavily.

"That guy." Rei answered.

Tai could see Koromon pretending to be a stuffed animal like usual, but he could see that the Digimon was in pain from hanging by his ear.

"Hey – You – Dropped – This." He said between breaths.

"Yay! Problem solved." Rei said as she put Koromon back into the bag.

"Sorry about this." Neo said, taking the bag and throwing it at Tai.

"It's not a problem." Tai said, finally catching his breath. "I didn't have to go that far anyways." He returned the other bag to him. "So you're playing soccer?"

"Yes, I am going to prove that I am the best once I take out Hideto over there."

"That was creepy!" Rei jabbed.

"Take me out where? Is it fancy? I want to be pampered." Hideto joined in.

Tai watched the three arguing and chuckled a bit. He saw the girl's laughing face, and the white haired guy's smirk. Something clicked in his head. "Hey, have I met you guys before?" He said cautiously. There was something about them that he couldn't wrap his mind around.

"I don't think so, why." Hideto said.

"It's nothing, I just… feel something familiar from you guys, that's all. Oh, right! I have to get going, do you guys know which way Tokyo Airport is?"

"Yeah, it's a couple of blocks that way." Rei pointed.

"Thank you." Tai said. Before he left he saw the white haired boy looked uneasy. "It was nice to meet you. Maybe next time I can join in on your game. My name is Taichi Kamiya, but my friends call me Tai." He introduced, putting out his hand.

"Yeah, my name's Neo, Neo Saiba. It's nice to meet you too." He reached for Tai's hand with his own.

They gave a hearty shake, and then Tai tried to let go but found that he couldn't. Something in his head started to hurt, and then evolved into excruciating pain.. Tai shot his free hand up to his head, to try to control the pain, to keep it from hurting too much. He shot a glance in front of him and saw that Neo was having a similar experience.

"TAI!" He heard Koromon exclaim with worry. Rei and Hideto didn't notice the outburst, they were too preoccupied with Neo.

Tai dropped to his knees and somehow managed to use his other hand. He curled up, but there was nothing he could do to stop the pain. Then he saw images, images of Digimon, and a triumphant phrase ringing out the entire time.

He saw Leomon, but there were small Agumons with boxing gloves all around him.

**WE**

He saw Etemon, but he was wearing a weird leather jacket.

**ARE**

He saw a rampaging MetalGreymon. There was a blurred out creature beside him the entire time.

**THE**

A weird giant eyeball shot arrows at him. He was flying, flying on something. It was too blurred out.

**100%**

Piedmon! He faced Piedmon in a weird dimension… No, that doesn't seem right. When… when did that happen?

**COMBINATION!**

No, Omnimon? Why did he fight with Omnimon? What is going on?

_Stop, it's too much! Make it STOP!_

The two boys collapsed on the ground, out cold.

- 01100101 01101110 01100100 -

Hey, so getting back into the groove with a new story.

I'll probably work on CtE when I can remember where I was going with it.

-453


	2. Lightly Drizzling

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon**_

Note: Digidestined are in Diaboromon Strikes Back clothing unless stated otherwise.

**Lightly Drizzling**

"SILENCE!" A voice roared like fire.

The surrounding creatures shuddered. Some cringed on the pale shores while others sank into the icy waters, not one of them wanted to face their master's wrath.

"The time to strike is now you blubbering fool and you know it." Another voice like a rushing torrent argued.

The other voice took a deep breath and sounded calm, like flickering embers. "And why would you say that?"

"They are distracted, separated from their strongest members. Did you not see the malfunction with the Bearer of Courage? That pesky knight will be out of commission. We can carry out the plan without much."

"True, the remnants of the Wipe did quite a number on him… Very well. When can you leave?"

"At any moment."

"Right, rally your troops. I shall create the gates for your arrival."

"Perfect."

As his ally waded back into the black waters to rally his half of the forces, the cloaked creature watched the dim clouds flutter away in the endless grey sky. "It's time for the next round Digidestined. Ready or not, vengeance will be mine."

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

_Where am I?_ The boy wondered. Darkness haunted every around him, gust and winds gave quiet whispers and chills down his spine and yet, the boy felt peaceful, like he was at home. Far away, the boy could see a creature floating in the void. He couldn't make it out but the creature seemed familiar and tugged on his heart, filling it with nostalgia and… regret?

'Partner.' Said the being in an echoic whisper.

"Who are you?" The boy asked desperately. The more he stared at it, the more the empty feeling grew. The boy had to know who it was. He had to know why it seemed so close to him, why it wrung on his heart so painfully.

'There's no time. He's coming for me. I'm scared partner.' The creature shuddered, dissolving into little bits.

"Who is? What do you mean?"

There was no reply as the creature vanished completely.

"Wait, WAIT! WHO ARE YOU?!"

Then there was an explosion of light, and the boy woke up to chaos.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

"Gennai!" Kari exclaimed.

"Why are you in my T.V.?" Davis asked.

"I was going to win!" Yolie lamented.

"What's going on Gennai?"

The being gave a sigh before he spoke. "(static)- It is better if you see for yourselves, Digidestined." Davis's computer started to whine and glow blue. "(static)- This gate will take you straight to my home. (static)- I will tell you more when you arrive."

The younger Digidestined gave one another curious looks. "I wonder what that's about?" Tk wondered.

"It's probably another disaster that we have to fix." Davis sighed, picking up Demiveemon. "Let get it over with, summer won't last forever."

"Wait!" Ken exclaimed, stopping Davis from entering quickly.

"What's the matter Ken?" The gogglehead asked.

"I… I don't know. I just feel like something will happen… something bad."

"Are you sure?" Yolie asked worriedly.

"No. It could be nothing. Let's just get to Gennai's and see what's going on first."

"Right, let's get this over with quickly." Davis decided. "DigiPort! Open!"

Moments later, they crashed in the middle of a large plain. Veemon pulled Davis out from the bottom of the resulting pile. They walked for a bit under the dark and cloudy skies and arrived in front of a large lake. The waters split and a tall man in white robes ascended from the stairs. "Gennai, why are we here?" Ken asked.

Gennai looked at the group with a rare serious expression. "It involves that natural disasters that you all have been dealing with for the past few weeks."

"Has another one occurred?" Davis asked.

"No, not yet. Come with me there is something that you all should see." He then walked back down his house. Confused, the Digidestined and their partners followed.

They passed a normal looking living room as they walked through the house. There was nothing that seemed unusual or out of place. Everything seemed fine. "Here we are." Gennai said as he opened a trapdoor. He descended the staircase into another room underneath his home in the bottom of the lake.

"I wonder what's going on." Cody said. "Gennai's acting strangely."

"I know, he hasn't cracked a joke the whole time." Davis noted.

"Maybe he learned that they weren't funny."

"Patamon, that's not nice." Tk scolded. "True, but not nice."

"Do you know where we are?" Gennai said when he stopped. The Digidestined looked around and saw that there were large shelves that stretched to the ceiling. Every one of them was packed with glowing green nodes and red nodes. All of them shook their heads.

"This is the Record Hall, where we store every prophecy that has ever been made." He pulled out one of the nearby red nodes a shelf. Upon removal, the node dulled and a bright screen appeared above it. "Recognize this?"

"Hour of the Beast, blah blah blah, Light and Hope… Nope, not a clue." Davis stated.

"This- This is the prophecy that created WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon!" Kari exclaimed.

"It was so long ago, was this where you found it?" Tk exclaimed, waves of memories of that battle returning to him. He was so young back then.

"Did you call us because of this prophecy?" Cody asked.

"No, I think that one's finished with." Ken thought aloud. "I'm guessing he found something else, something that's involves what's been happening with the recent disasters."

"Right on the nose Ken." Gennai chuckled. "Ever since the battle against VenomMyotismon, I transcribed all the prophecies in case any of them would help in the future."

"All of these?" Gatomon asked in awe.

"That's a really hard homework assignment." Armadillomon joked.

Gennai chuckled. "It was quite tedious." He admitted. "But it was worth it in the end, because there was a prophecy that I decoded back then that seems to worry them immensely. He expecially believes that it has relevance now."

"Are you talking about Azulongmon?" Yolie interjected.

"Yes I am. Azulongmon was quite adamant in his belief that this prophecy was relevant in this situation, though it is much more cryptic than the other one." He said as he removed one of the green nodes from a shelf. Upon removal, the light dimmed and projected a screen with words.

Kari read the prophecy.

"_Power fades by Abbot's Ire,_

_rising Seas will be swallowed by falling Fire_

_Darkness stands between evil Light_

_Miracles will cause Courage and Victory to unite_."

"I don't get it." Davis said right after she was done.

"It'll happen," Cody said. "We just have to wait until it does to see what it means."

"The last one with Light and Hope involved Kari and I because we had the corresponding crests." Tk said.

"So you think Tai is part of this somehow?" Kari asked with concern.

"Or at least he is going to be." Ken said ominously.

Suddenly the prophecy node began to flash and the first line flashed red. "What's going on?" Veemon exclaimed.

Gennai looked grim, "Something has happened."

"What! Another disaster?" Davis exclaimed. "Which Digiport do we need to go through?"

"Any of them." He replied to the DigiDestineds' confusion. "There's no indication of anything wrong in the Digital World."

"But that could only mean… No. Way. Come on guys we have to hurry!"

Without another word, the six DigiDestined and their partners rushed out of the room and made a break for the digiport that they came through. As they were running, Gennai walked out of the building. The clouds split in the sky and revealed a large blue dragon. "Are you sure this was the right choice Azulongmon? Knowledge of the Wipe could potentially destroy them."

"It is quite a gamble." Azulongmon admitted. "But you can't bake a cake without breaking a few eggs. For what's coming we certainly need some time for cake."

Gennai sighed. "As long as the eggs aren't rotten."

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

Much Earlier: Human World:

"I can't believe he's late! Stupid Tai." Sora ranted.

"Come on Sora, he could be late, or lost… he's lost isn't he?" Matt sighed.

"From experience, that is most likely what happened." Izzy sighed.

"Izzy." Joe said suddenly.

"What?"

"I've been wondering, what's with the suit?"

Sora and Matt also noticed the red head was dressed up nicely and neatly combed his hair. Sora giggled a bit and Matt had a giant smirk plastered on his face. Izzy wore an orange button up with a tie.

"Wh- what do you mean? This isn't a suit."

"Really Izzy?" Motimon said, emerging from one of the bags that the older Digidestined left on the floor next to them. "I thought you said it was because of -MMPHMM!"

Izzy franticly grabbed his bag and gave it the strongest hug he could to try and silence his talkative partner. No matter how hard they tried to hold it in, the other three Digidestined couldn't stop giggling at their friend's embarrassment.

"So how much longer are we waiting?" Yokomon whispered from her bag.

"Yeah! It's boring in these things!" Bukamon complained rather loudly. Joe quickly tried to shush his rowdy partner up before they attracted more attention from the surrounding crowd.

"Bukamon." Joe scolded.

"I'm bored, there's only paper in here and I shredded them ages ago."

"My homework!" Joe lamented.

"So Izzy," Matt grinned, pulling the younger boy closer to him. "When did this start happening?"

The Bearer of Friendship couldn't help but give his friend a hard time, it wasn't often when any of them could make Izzy get this upset… unless it was Tai, and it was usually from accidently destroying something in his room again.

"Nothing's going on!" Izzy exclaimed as he wriggled out of Matt's grip, only to crash into a newsstand. "Gah!"

The papers flew everywhere, much to the Bearer of Knowledge's dismay. After they got a scolding and paid for the damages, the group started to clean up the mess.

"There goes my allowance." Izzy sighed.

"Half your allowance," Matt corrected, "AND half my paycheck."

"Was it worth it?" Sora grumbled next to him, picking up another piece of paper.

"To see Izzy react like that? I'd would've used two paychecks."

"Well, just as I thought, you guys are all here." The four of them turned around and saw a smiling Mimi.

"Hi." They heard Tanemon's muffled greeting from inside of one of Mimi's suitcases.

"Mimi!" They exclaimed and came over to greet her.

"Why didn't you call when you landed, and how did you find us?" Sora asked.

"Come on Sora, I'm used to this by now to know where there's chaos there's Digimon."

"That's a reasonable hypothesis." Izzy commented, giving the others a death glare. They all zipped their lips to get him to stop.

"Where's Tai?" She asked, looking around for the usual mass of hair.

"He's late." Sora sighed. "Come on you must be hungry, those flights must take forever."

The group got their bags and left the airport. Mimi sent off her luggage with her parents and went off to find some food with her friends. They went to a burger place and sat at a booth.

"I'll call Tai and see where he is." Sora said as they sat down. She dialed the number and it took a few rings until someone picked up. "Hey Tai, where are you? We picked up Mimi a long time ago and now we're-"

"OH Thank Goodness! You know Tai!" The person on the other line exclaimed. Sora stopped talking for a minute to register that it was a girl's voice, and one she didn't recognize. In the background there were signs of something crashing and a scream.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Gah! Calm down Hideto! I'll get him off!" There was the sound of the phone dropping to the floor. "Ah! It's on me! Get it off! Get it- Ooh pretty bubbles. Wait- Don't do that! My chair's tipping! Ah!"

_–CRASH! – Dial Tone –_

After that, Sora turned off her phone and put it away. Then she covered her face with her hands and let out a deep sigh. "Tai's busy…" That was all she could say to describe what just happened.

"That's too bad." Mimi sighed.

"I'm sure he'll be coming once he's done." Izzy said quickly, trying to cheer her up.

"Hey Mimi, did you know that Izzy arrived at the Airport first? I think he arrived an hour before when we were supposed to meet."

"Well, I like to be punctual to everything." He said as he simultaneously glared at Matt and squeezed his bag to silence Motimon from commenting.

"Whatever, let's eat!" Tsunomon exclaimed, he could smell their food coming.

"This is what I like about this place." Mimi said when they were finished. "It's so peaceful even with so many people. I feel like there's not as much urgency here because I can spend all the time I want with my friends… or most of them anyways." She finished by standing in front of the glass doors and giving them a thumb up.

The rest of them smiled at her kind words, and then gave confused frowns when they noticed that everyone outside seemed to be frozen in shock. Nobody was moving, and it was supposed to be rush hour.

"What's going on?" Matt asked for all of them as he passed Mimi and looked outside. As soon as he did, the Digidestined of Friendship joined the rest of the masses with a look of shock and disbelief.

The rest of the older Digidestined did the same and had the same result plastered on their faces. "No way." Joe squeaked.

"That's impossible, there were no readings or indications of this happening at all." Izzy analyzed. "What could be causing this?"

"Why on the day I just got here?" Mimi shuddered.

A black collum of smoke billowed into the skyline. Crimson light seemed to illuminate everywhere and grew by the second. The light was so intense they could almost feel the heat from here. What was once white and peaceful had become red and dangerous. Mt. Fuji is _erupting_.

- 01100101 01101110 01100100 -

Yay the second chapter is done. I hope you guys liked it.

-453


	3. Falling Rain

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon**_

**Falling Rain**

"DARN HIM!" Screamed a very annoyed voice. It waded across the bubbling molten rock and began to scale the burning rock wall, climbing along with the heavy smoke and flying fire. "Why a volcano? I couldn't get a nice tsunami?" The Digimon narrowly passed though the volcano's mouth and followed the lava down the mountain.

Irritated with the tiring climb, he decided to walk towards the nearest source of water, and trailed towards a large lake. "It'll take forever to soak these burns off of my tentacles." It sighed. "Where is everyone? Those portals are a pain… maybe I should have let him do further testing. Oh well, it'll be worth it when they come."

The large Digimon reached the water and began to soak in the water, regaining energy from the climb. The lake was relaxing, but too small for his tastes though. He turned his beady eyes at the smoldering volcano and wondered when they would arrive, after all who could miss that?

"What is that thing?" He heard a voice exclaimed. "It's huge!"

There they were.

"It's so ugly." Another voice exclaimed with disgust.

That was mean.

"Here it is: Dragomon, a demonic priest Digimon that bundles his tentacles into limbs. His Tentacle Claw and his Forbidden Trident attacks are ." A third voice analyzed.

"Then let's turn it into take out! Garurumon!"

_HOWLING BLASTER!_

The blue flames didn't do much to him, but it irritated the burns that he got from the volcano. Dragomon didn't know why that guy wanted these weaklings, but that guy seemed to know what he was doing so he'll follow orders for now. They didn't even seem that strong. He was the lord of the Dark Ocean, how can five little champions defeat him?

"Matt!" The weirdly dressed one exclaimed to the handsome one. "He's an Ultimate Level!"

"Then let's match it!"

"Right!" The rest of them yelled.

_What did he just say?_ Then flashes of pink, green, grey, blue, and purple lights engulfed each of the Digimon. Then he became surrounded by five Ultimate level Digimon.

They just Digivolved. An old memory flashed through his mind, memories of loneliness. The memories that made him want to annihilate them all here and now. A volley of attacks rammed him in the face. That doesn't help his mood either, it was time for him to get serious.

"The attacks aren't working Izzy." Matt stated.

"We noticed; what now?" Joe squeaked in a panicked voice.

"It's weird." Izzy answered, scratching his formerly well combed hair. "That Digimon has a familiar Digital Signature."

"Izzy, You're speaking nerd again." Mimi pointed.

Izzy noticed that everyone else was also confused by what he just said and sighed before dumbing it down a bit. "It means that there's something about him that my analyzer finds familiar."

"Oh…" The others said in unison.

_FORBIDDEN TRIDENT!_

_VULCAN'S HAMMER!_

Zudomon's attack repelled Dagomon's attack, but knocked the Digimon backwards. "Careful Zudomon!" Joe exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

The aquatic Digimon panted heavily to recover from the blow by the Digimon twice it's height, "Yeah… but that was a strong attack… took a lot to deflect it."

_WING BLADE!_

The large bird-like fire blast struck Dragomon on his burn riddled head, which seemed to irritate him more than it did to hurt him.

"THAT'S ENOUGH YOU FOOLISH DIGIDESTINED!" The octopus Digimon roared. They repressed a shudder as his voice washed over them like crude oil. "I WOULD DESTROY YOU ALL IN A HEARTBEAT IF HE DIDN'T TELL ME NOT TO!"

_He?_ Izzy noticed. _There's someone else commanding this thing?_

Zudomon took the initiative while Dagomon was raging and threw his hammer at the mollusk. The Chrondigizoit weapon slammed into Dagomon's bundled arm.

"That outta break a few bones." Matt cheered on his friend.

"FOOLS! I HAVE NO BONES!"

"He's right there Matt." Izzy added. "Mollusks usually have a mass of muscles instead of – "

"Now's not the time for a Biology Lesson!" Sora exclaimed as WereGarurumon tried to follow up with one of his own attacks.

_GARURU KICK!_

The wolfman charged forward and lunged quickly at Dagomon. The Viral Digimon shook out the hammer from his bundle of tentacles, which slammed into WereGarurumon's head. The wolf tumbled into the giant octopus Digimon.

He has had enough, they were getting on his nerves. It's time to finish them. "You're first." Growled Dagomon in a voice that promised intense pain with every breath.

_TENTACLE CLAW!_

Dagomon's right arm split apart into a forest of tentacles, engulfing WereGarurumon within them.

"No!" Matt screamed for his partner. A glaring red light flashed from the bundle of tentacles. Matt kept on screaming and collapsed to the ground. Dagomon roared and flung an object from the bundle. Gabumon crashed into Lillymon. She dropped a few feet to balance out the sudden weight.

"What –What just happened?" Matt groaned as he steadily picked himself up.

"That's weird, you just got tired all of the sudden." Joe verified.

"You don't say." Matt growled. The Bearer of Friendship looked up and gasped. The other Digidestined also noticed what had happened. A glowing red orb rested in the mass of tentacles, shimmering with red lights. Incased within it was an enlarged crest of Friendship. Dragomon added the stone to the rest of his necklace beads.

"Who's next?" Dagomon growled. Izzy shuddered at the mollusk's sinister smirk.

The Digidestined of Knowledge took a glance at the smoldering volcano. _There's no way he can miss that. We need back up, where are you Tai?_

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

Earlier:

"Ah! What are we gonna do?" Rei exclaimed. "TELL ME HIDETO! Are they dead? What happened? What are we gonna DO?"

Hideto sighed. "I'll check on them, you can call for help."

"Right!" Rei said as she searched for her cellphone. She pressed a number on speed dial.

- Hi! This is Mari!

"Mari! Thank goodness, Neo just – "

- I can't come to the phone right now. I'm going to go to an awesome photo shoot! It's gonna be so fun! Call me back later!

Rei shut off the phone. Mari's at another one of those shoots, ugh, they take forever. Though there were some pretty dresses. She heard Neo groan and snapped out of her trance. Right, let's try Sigma.

- Hello, this is Sigma speaking.

"SIGMA! Wait why are you whispering?"

- Shh! Don't speak too loudly she'll hear – oh no.

- SIGMA! I've got an extra ticket for you!

- NO! Never Again! Let go! …Why are you so strong?

- Hey you noticed! Let's get going!

- (Dial-tone)

"We have no help." Rei said flatly.

Hideto sighed and held his hand to his head. "It's no problem, they're unconscious." He said to her visible relief. "We should bring them somewhere so they can recover. Your house is near right? We can carry them there."

"Right. We can each carry one over our shoulders and lift them home." She said dryly.

"Oh, um, right…" Hideto muttered. "So what do you suggest we do?'

Rei thought for a minute and came up with an idea. "You could give me a piggy back, then we stuff them into the wheelchair and you can push us home."

Hideto racked his mind to think up an alternative plan. He could think of none, unfortunately.

"You're kidding, right?" He asked.

To answer his question, Rei pushed herself next to him and grabbed her crutches and shakily stood up. "Then I guess I'll just walk home." She said determinedly.

Hideto sighed. "Just wait a minute." He walked over and grabbed the two boys by their collars and dragged them on to the vacant wheelchair. "Get on." He said.

Rei climbed on to his back and he put away the crutches. Push the chair, slowly getting it to move._ This is heavy._ He thought.

As they went away, neither of them noticed that one of the bags they left hopping along behind them.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

"Yay! We're home." Rei exclaimed.

"Thank goodness." Hideto groaned. He heaved the boys into the house and quickly dumped them on to the soft carpet. After that, Rei went back on her wheelchair. Hideto then dragged each of the boys on to a couch. Satisfied with his work, the collapsed on the floor and groaned with exhaustion.

Hideto watched as Rei hovered over her brother, checking if anything else happened to him. After that she moved on to check the other guy, Tai, if he remembered correctly. "I wonder what happened to them." Hideto mused to himself.

"Ugh! This is frustrating! What could have happened? It's not like they both got really bad brain freeze! This is so weird."

She slammed her head on the table in annoyance.

_Thump._

Hideto relaxed for a moment. He heard one of the two guys muttering in their sleep. Other than that, the house was relatively quiet and peaceful.

_Thump._

"Rei, stop hitting your head on the table." He groaned.

"What are you talking about?" Rei sighed.

"Wait, that wasn't you?"

_Thump. Thump._

"Wait, I heard it that time." Rei said, squirming in her chair.

_Thump! DING-DONG! Thump._

Hideto grunted as he stood up and lumbered over to the door. He opened it and found that no one was at the door. Irritated, he closed it.

_Thump! DING-DONG! Thump._

Hideto pulled open the door again and found no one there, but then he looked down and his eyes widened slightly. "What is this doing here?" He mumbled as he picked up Tai's bag. It was still half-opened and he could see the stuffed animal looking at him with the realistically sad eyes.

He walked inside and tossed the bag on the table. "Hey Rei, did you drop this on the way over here?"

The girl shifted her eyes to the bag. "No… Oh no! I left Neo's bag at the park!"

Hideto turned away and walked over to her. "Don't worry. Given the circumstance, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right. Oh right, can I see that toy again? It was pretty cute."

"Alright, alright." Hideto chuckled. He went over to the bag again, but he was unable to find anything other than some maps, a phone, and a large can of hair gel labeled 'Matt's Gel – Use at least one can a day'. The stuffed animal had disappeared. "Where is it?"

Hideto looked around to see if it had dropped somewhere, and then saw that it had somehow gotten on Tai's chest. "Weird…" He muttered. "How did you get over here?" He asked no one in particular.

Suddenly, the stuffed animal blinked, and then it turned over and looked Hideto in the eyes. "I just hopped over here."

Nobody spoke for a couple of moments. "Did that toy just talk?" Rei squeaked.

"Of course I can talk… Is there any reason I can't?" Koromon asked politely.

There was another pause. "Hideto…" Rei broke the silence. "Don't freak out."

"Freaking out," He said, his voice cracking slightly, "Is the last thing on my mind." Hideto said trying to calm himself down. "After all, it's not like those movies where dolls come to life and destroy everything right? Yeah. Hahaha."

It was at that time when an incredibly loud ringtone echoed through the house. The sudden noise freaked everyone out. Koromon suddenly jumped and landed on a ceiling fan.

"Get him off there," Rei hissed, "It's already weak from holding up your physics project. Who hangs ten heavy cans on a ceiling fan and expect everything to be alright."

"It was only eight… Alright, let's get down now buddy." He said to the pink digimon.

"OH Thank Goodness! You know Tai!" Rei exclaimed to the person on the other line.

"Is that Sora!" The ball exclaimed happily and leaned towards Rei. He suddenly lost his balance and fell off of the fan on to Hideto's face.

Hideto freaked and toppled over on the table. "Get it off of me!" He shrieked.

"Gah! Calm down Hideto!" She exclaimed, dropping the phone and scooting over to her friend. Koromon suddenly jumped off of the guy who looked like he was about to have a panic attack and landed on the relatively calmer girl.

"Ah! It's on me!" Rei said.

"Get it off!" Hideto flailed. He looked like he was about to fall. Koromon decided to help him out. "Get it-"

_Bubble Blow!_

_That should help him up._ The digimon thought.

"Ooh pretty bubbles." Rei observed. A harmless bubble hit Hideto in the eye, tripping him over Rei. "Wait- Don't do that! My chair's tipping! Ah!"

Rei sank out of her chair and Hideto landed on top of her, crushing the phone underneath her and Koromon between them.

An awkward moment of silence passed between the two of them. Koromon felt extremely uncomfortable and tried to say something to get them off. Someone beat him to the punch.

"Hideto." A cold and vicious voice growled. Koromon could feel both human's heart skip a couple of beats in fear. "Would you kindly get off of my sister? Immediately."

"Hey, Neo. You're awake." Hideto said weakly.

- 01100101 01101110 01100100 -

* * *

Hey guys, here's another update.

Thanks to those who followed/faved.

Honorable Mention to Emeraldpichu and random Guest for Reviewing.

Till next time,

-453


	4. Lightning Flash

**Disclaimer: _I don't own Digimon_**

**Lightning Flash**

Izzy couldn't help but shudder at the situation. After WereGarurumon got hit, Matt started acting incredibly aggressive towards the other Digidestined. When Zudomon was hit by the same attack, Joe also collapsed and started to act in a similar way when he woke up.

Garudamon, Lillymon, and MegaKabuterimon managed to avoid most of the attacks due to their flight. However, Dagomon was coming closer with each strike.

It was a matter of time before he hit Sora or his's partner. The larger targets were more likely to get captured than the smaller Lillymon. If they whittle off his health by staying up there while they still could.

Sora was trying to stop a fight between Matt and Joe. Apparently, Joe thought the amount of gel Matt put into his hear was annoying and unhealthy. Izzy knew something was wrong with them. Matt would never get that aggressive towards his friends, and Joe would never have said that comment… at least not out loud.

"Stop fighting!" Sora commanded. Her voice fell on deaf ears as the two boys came face to face, ready to start their attack. Izzy could see Mimi holding their neglected partners in her arms. Gabumon and Gomamon were still out cold.

_HORN BUSTER!_

_FLOWER CANNON!_

_WING BLADE!_

Another chain of attacks rained down on Dagomon from above. The aquatic Digimon roared at the flying Digimon. The encased crests started to glow with a sinister dark blue color. Then the red fins on his back suddenly elongated into wings.

"That's not good." Izzy grimaced. "How is he doing that?"

He saw that Matt and Joe stopped their altercation to watch the flying octopus. Sora and Mimi also watched the enemy closing towards their partners. Izzy looked at the lake where Dagomon left and saw something off with the water. That's definitely not good. He thought as he realized the threat. I have to warn them now!

"Guys, be careful! In the water, there's – AAAAHHHHH!

"Izzy!" He heard someone scream before he felt all of his strength left him.

He collapsed on the ground as Tentomon crashed down near him. Dagomon chuckled viciously as he added a jewel with the Crest of Knowledge to his necklace. "Almost there.'

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

Earlier:

Tai steadily regain consciousness. His head still pounded heavily, the secrets within still trying to rush out. He had a weird Digimon filled dream. He should see Gennai after meeting with everyone. He groaned as he twisted around in the couch. _Wait, couch?_ The last thing he could remember was being in the park.

The Bearer of Courage tried to lose his drowsiness and observed his surroundings. Neo sat glaring at Hideto. Both he and Rei looked incredibly flushed.

Koromon sat between them all on a scuffed up coffee table. He could hear their conversation as he struggled to move.

"Honestly, how did you get scared of this guy? I mean it's understandable if it was one of the Digimon they show on Tv, but this guy? Come on." Neo chuckled.

"I'm not used to it, alright?" Hideto sighed. Neo was never going to let him live this down. "Sorry again for freaking out Koromon."

"No problem." The Digimon chirped.

"Ugh, what's happening?" Tai said, gaining enough energy to sit up.

"You're awake!" Koromon exclaimed as he hopped on to his lap.

"What happened to me?" He groaned.

"We don't know." Rei answered.

"Yeah, I collapsed as well." Neo sighed, placing a hand on his forehead, getting a slight headache from remembering the pain. "Is that normal for you Digidestined?"

"Not really." Tai winced away some pain as he pet Koromon. "I saw some weird images and voices while I was asleep. I really don't know what to make of them."

Neo gave a grave chuckle. "Same here." The boy thought for a moment and walked over to a desk. "Here's my contact numbers." He said as he gave Tai a slip of paper. "If you find out anything, you'd better tell us." He said. A desperate look in his eyes made his request seem more like an order. Just what did see?

"Right." Tai said as he took the paper. "Just let me put it in my phone."

When he said that, a chorus of groans echoed the room. Tai searched his bag and couldn't find his phone. "Um, did anyone?"

Rei handed his phone to him, both halves of it. "Don't ask." She said.

Tai nervously packed up his things. "O…k…"

"Tai, Airport." Koromon reminded. He could hear a soft jet-like whine, but he dismissed it

"Crap!" Tai exclaimed. "Sorry guys, but I have to go." As he headed for the door, he heard the voices again. He cringed a bit before opening the door.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hideto asked.

"Yeah… I – I'm fine." Tai muttered before opening the door. He paused for a moment to see the scene in front of him. "Is this… ash?" Tai asked, grasping the fluttering black specks that fell from the sky. The whining grew louder, causing Tai and Koromon to look up. For a short moment, they saw a glimpse of Imperialdramon soaring past above them.

Tai followed the blue light trail that the dragon left and saw the erupting volcano. "Oh no." He quickly reached for his Digivice. The screen flashed with an unusual light, but it was unnoticed by both of them.

"Let's Warp Digivolve and see what's going on." Koromon suggested. Tai agreed and held out his Digivice. It shone with the bright orange light that it usually did and burst out, however it arched around Tai like lightning instead of the beam.

The Bearer of Courage gave a scream of pain before he collapsed on the ground once more.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

After discovering the erupting volcano, the giant flying octopus wasn't hard to miss. Imperialdramon saw Lillymon distracting it. He dropped off his passengers next to the present Digidestined and joined the fray.

"Got get him Imperialdramon! The cavalry has arrived!" Davis cheered.

"Stop fighting!" Mimi yelled to the others. The other four were in another random argument with each other.

"Mimi!" Kari exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"I don't know!" She said. "They aren't listening to me."

"Matt!" Tk called out. "What's wrong?" There was no response from his brother. His attention turned to the argument and then to the Digimon that Imperialdramon was fighting.

"Hey, are those crests?" Patamon observed.

"Yes." Mimi said. "It somehow sucked the crest out of the Digimon and then the guys turned out like this."

"WHAT?" The younger Digidestined exclaimed in shock.

"I knew it." Tk growled. "The darkness has to be totally destroyed, otherwise it'll never leave us alone."

"I agree, there's something sinister about that Digimon." Ken said.

"Did the demonic wings or evil laughter tip you off?" Davis joked.

"Stop talking and start fighting!" Yolie ordered. At the sky battle, Dagomon somehow managed to evade most of Lillymon and Imperialdramon's attacks. "They need backup!"

"Right!"

Three digivices glowed as the remaining rookies changed into their champion forms.

"Patamon Digivolve to… Angemon!"

"Hawkmon Digivolve to… Aquilamon!"

"Armadillomon Digivolve to… Ankylomon!"

"Angemon … Ankylomon … DNA Digivolve to… Shakkoumon!"

"Aquilamon … Gatomon … DNA Digivolve to … Silphymon!"

The two Ultimate leveled Digimon went to help their friends. Dagomon looked at the new arrivals and gave a sinister, knowing grin.

_JUSTICE BEAM!_

_STATIC FORCE!_

_FLOWER CANNON!_

_POSITRON LASER!_

The four attacks sped towards the aquiatic Digimon. He shifted his wings back into fins and fell down towards the water. Dagomon managed to dodge the Positron Laser and Justice Beam, and the Static Force and Flower Cannon didn't deal massive damage to him.

The collision sent the water flying up into the air, raining down towards them. The Digidestined flinched at the sudden downpour.

When it stopped, the Digimon surrounded Dagomon, all of their attacks ready.

"Give up Dagomon!" Imperialdramon said in his twin voices. "We have you surrounded."

"Turn the other's back to normal or we will destroy you!" Lillymon growled.

There was a tense moment of silence, broken by Dagomon's abrupt laughter. "HAHA! FOOLS!" The octopus bellowed. "Did you think I'd face you alone?"

The surface of the lake broke open again as creatures flew out. In a flash, the counter attack had begun.

A MarineDevimon latched itself on to Imperialdramon, using its tentacles to blind the mighty dragon. A Grizzlymon managed to blindside Silphymon. A SkullSatamon rushed out and relentlessly beat down Shakkoumon with his Nail Bone attack.

"What!" Davis exclaimed.

Dagomon turned at the same time and engulfed Lillymon with his tentacles. When he extracted the crest, Mimi screamed and collapsed like the others.

Kari and Tk rushed over to help her.

"What happened?" Davis exclaimed. When they saw Dagomon add the orb with the others on his necklace, they looked at the bickering group of Digidestined and made the connection.

"Imperialdramon! Take care of that guy and defeat the octopus!" Davis ordered.

Imperialdramon roared and tried to shake off the MarineDevimon on his head. The ultimate used his strength to bind the great dragon's mouth and eyes.

Shakkoumon and Silphymon held their own until Dagomon joined in and assisted them. "Who's outnumbered now, Digidestined?" Dagomon taunted.

_POSITRON LASER!_

Imperialdramon aimed his attack at the irritating laughter and managed to strike Dagomon off-guard.

_GUILTY BLACK!_

MarineDevimon jumped away from the dragon and shot his ink into Imperialdramon's eyes.

Davis and Ken looked at each other and decided to finish the fight quickly, D3's glowing, Imperialdramon shifted to his strongest form.

"Imperialdramon Mode Change: FIGHTER MODE!"

Imperialdramon shifted to a humanoid form, with his dragon head as his breastplate. "I've got you now." He growled as he started to charge his laser.

Weakened, Dagomon looked at his foe. Beside him, his allies were beginning to get beaten down by the other fused Digimon. _It's time to head back_, a voice whispered in his head, _finish this quickly_. "Very well… NOW!" He declared suddenly.

_TENTACLE CLAW!_

_PRESSURE!_

The two tentacle attacks weren't enough to overcome Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, but they can change the dragon-warrior's aim. The Positron Laser missed Dagomon and struck Shakkoumon instead. The blast split the Mutant Digimon into the two component Digimon.

"Crap." Imperialdramon said as he struggled against the tentacles. "Uh, Sorry guys!"

"Tokomon!" "Upamon!" Tk and Cody cried out.

Silphymon went to help Imperialdramon, however SkullSatamon gave a maniacal laughter as he started to beat down on the fused Digimon.

While the partner Digimon were either disabled or distracted, Grizzlymon rushed towards the Digidestined. "NO!" Imperialdramon yelled as he fought against the constricting attacks.

"SCATTER!" Davis ordered. The Digidestined scrambled out of the Champion's way as it charged towards them.

The leader of the younger Digidestined tripped and tumbled to the bickering group of older Digidestined. "DAVIS! Watch where you're going!" Sora exclaimed when he bumped into her. A few seconds later she was back to her argument.

He glanced at where the other Digidestined had ran and saw that they were fine, except for- "KEN ITS BEHIND YOU!" He exclaimed as he chased after his friend.

"I NOTICED!" Ken yelled back.

_MAUL ATTACK!_

The strike hit the ground behind the Digidestined of Kindness, causing him trip on the ground and knocking him out. The bear Digimon towered over Ken, with his sharp teeth bared menacingly.

"Get away from him!" Davis yelled out.

"Pest." Grizzlymon growled, swatting him away with his powerful paws. Davis was sent flying and crashed into Tk and Cody. Then he turned back to Ken, opened his jaws and bit down.

"OPEN THE GATE!" Dagomon yelled, jumping away from Imperialdramon. MarineDevimon followed his lead. SkullSatamon ceased his maniacal onslaught against Silphymon as well. The group gathered around Grizzlymon who carried Ken in his teeth by the collar of the Digidestined's shirt.

The earth shooked as a giant pools of black water formed beneath the enemy Digimon. Kari froze at the sight of the dark water. "No… It can't be." She shivered.

"KEN!" Davis screamed as he watched his friend get down along with the Digimon. Imperialdramon rushed towards them, hoping to stop them before they could leave.

"Goodbye, Digidestined." Dagomon taunted, nearly engulfed by his portal. "Until next time."

And then they vanished into the darkness. When they did, Imperialdramon crashed to the ground as Chibomon and Leafmon. Davis ran to the ground where the portal appeared and started to hit the dirt with vain hopes that he could follow and save his friend.

The older Digidestined gradually escaped from their spell and observed the broken spirit that lingered the battlefield. The earthquake and the volcanic eruption have settled down by this time, with some smoke still billowing out of Mt. Fuji and a few minor aftershocks vibrating beneath them.

"This doesn't look good." A voice said. The Digidestined, most of whom were close to tears, turned to the voice.

They looked around in confusion. "GENNAI?"

"Should I be anyone else?" The Digidestineds' mentor asked.

"What happened?" Tk shivered. "Why were they able to take down all of our Digimon?"

"HOW were they able to?" Izzy added, finally cured and holding a tired Tentomon in his arms.

"Yeah, Imperialdramon blasted that octopus in the face!" Davis added, Chibomon and Leafmon resting in his arms.

Gennai looked over to Kari who was still trembling. "It was the Dark Ocean." She whispered. "They came from the Dark Ocean."

There was a moment of silence before a name clicked into the rest of the Digidestined's heads. "Deamon." Tk whispered in rage.

"Calm down Tk." Gennai said. "Don't lose yourself to your rage."

"How do we get to the Dark Ocean? We have to save him!" Davis said.

Gennai raised an eyebrow. "Do you believe that you can defeat all of your opponents at the state you're in now?"

Davis winced as he looked down at the tired in-trainings in his hands.

"Come and follow me." Gennai said. "There is something that I have to tell you all… something I should have explained a long time ago."

"What," Tk asked, slightly defeated. "could help us now? Another prophecy? What could you tell us about that could help us, how much importance does this have?"

"It has every importance." Gennai answered. "Come with me, I will tell you how to find your victory. I will tell you about your predecessors. I'll tell you the tale of the First DigiDestined.

- 01100101 01101110 01100100 -

Ugh, this was slow... Oh well, hope it was nice, feedback appreciated.

Thanks for follow/fave and honorable mention to:

Kojo208, 4fireking, Emeraldpichu, and a random Guest

for reviewing since last time.

Bye,

-453


	5. Rainy Day Stories

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.**_

**Rainy Day Stories**

When he awoke, he could only see darkness.

"Ugh, where am I?" He asked no one in particular while wincing in pain. The boy looked around him and saw that he was in a large cage hanging on the underside of a cliff. A patch of land with a large throne and a large chalice faced the dark water below him. "No… not here. Not again." He mumbled.

"Hello!" A booming voice greeted. The black water seemed to shake at the sound, in both the sea and the cup.

"Y- you!"

"That's right, welcome to the Dark Ocean, Ichijouchi." Deamon chuckled. "I told you I'd be back, didn't I?"

Ken looked at the glaring eyes that radiated from under Deamon's dark hood. "So you were behind this!" He exclaimed.

Deamon gave a menacing chuckle. "Of course! You didn't think I was finished with you yet, right?"

"Well you're too late! The Dark Spore is long gone!" Ken exclaimed.

The demonic Digimon didn't flinch at the news. "Yes, that Oikawa did a number on yours didn't he, cloning it and creating those flimsy knockoffs. However, the original is still intact, if only shattered by your crest."

Deamon held out his hands out at Ken, who screamed as a dark mist left his body and gathered around the Demon Lord's hand. "Perfect." He chuckled, grasping the small pulsating ball in his hands.

Ken struggled to support himself with the smooth obsidian bars of his cage "What… What are you going to do with that?" He gasped as. He could swear that he could see a smile beneath Deamon's hood.

The Demon Lord chuckled as he dropped the dark spore into the chalice. "Ken, Ken, Ken. You've heard of a catalyst before, haven't you?"

When the pulsating spore reached the cup, a reaction caused all the black water to pulsate with a weak purple light. "That's not water!" Ken realized. "They're all Spores!"

"Yes, they are." Deamon chuckled.

"What are you planning?" Ken growled from his cage. Deamon chuckled again like it was the funniest thing he had seen in a while.

"You know what." Deamon said, "I have some time to spare, so let me give you some despair." He chuckled at his rhyme. Ken thought he heard someone groan in annoyance. "You see Ken, it took a while for this plan to come to me, but thanks to a certain group of meddling children, I've had some time to think. It does take a while for the Dark Spores to grow from the powers of the DigiDestined and there are too many in comparison to the amount of humans that have Digimon partners on Earth. So an option would be to wait and plant a spore on every DigiDESTINED IN THE WORLD!"

Deamon paused for a dramatic effect. "But that will take too long and your irritating group would most likely discover what's going on quickly. So do you know how else a Digimon can obtain a… power boost if you will."

Ken's eyes widened as he realized Deamon's plans. "No, the Crests." He whispered.

"CORRECT! Now DAGOMON!" The Octopus Digimon rose from the dark water, with MarineDevimon following behind him. Ken noticed SkullSatamon and Grizzlymon appearing on the cliff beside him.

"I have the Crests." Dagomon said. "We should have extracted their power soon."

"Yes Ken Ichijouchi! Fall to despair! Once these seven Crests are fully charged with dark energy, the spores shall reveal their true power!" Deamon gave out a maniacal laugh. It subsided when he realized that only he was laughing. "What's the matter?" He asked his silent companions.

They squirmed a bit before Dagomon spoke up. "We… only have five Crests Deamon."

The Demon Lord of Wrath remained silent. Ken noticed that his clawed hands were twitching slightly, like he was holding back an urge to destroy everything in sight.

"THAT – That is quite a – HUGE – bit of a problem." He growled. "I – DON'T – don't have the energy to send you – FOOLS – guys all back for another assault."

Dagomon gave a smirk in seeing Deamon try to hold in his anger. "You could send Grizzlymon back through the Digital World." He suggested.

Deamon thought it over. "Yes, they should be looking for ways to get back to the Dark Ocean, no doubt to find a way to rescue Ichijouchi – hmm – Right."

The Demon Lord of Wrath reached over to the chalice and grabbed some weakly pulsing dark spores. He squeezed his hand and a mass of stagnant spores fell back down to the chalice, causing the remaining ones to have even weaker pulses. The remaining spore in his hand beat rapidly, and Deamon handed it over to the purple bear.

"Take this when you cross over. It should help you with any threats that you might find."

"What threats?" Dagomon scoffed. "They are weak after the thrashing that we gave them."

Deamon floated over to Dagomon and came close to the Ultimate's face. "Never underestimate the DigiDestined. They are like cockroaches, the only way to get rid of them for good is to completely annihilate them all, otherwise they will find some way to bounce back when we least expect it." Deamon growled.

Ken watched as Deamon talked on how he needs some time before he gets enough strength to open another portal. _He must have some grudge against us for putting him in here,_ The Bearer of Kindness thought, _unless there's something else…_

"Well," Deamon sighed as he stretched his shoulders, Ken noted that the Digimon was addressing him, "we have some time to spare, so I'll tell you a story."

The rest of his allies groaned.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

"Um, we already know about Tai and the other's adventures." Davis said. The group had easily found a spare computer and was now resting in Gennai's living room under the lake.

"Davis, I don't think it's about them." Cody said before taking a sip of his tea.

"Do we really have time to be listening to stories?" Tk spoke up, "I mean, Ken is still out there, who knows what they are doing to him right now."

-01100011 01110101 01110100—

"And that was the story of how I discovered never to give a Volcandramon a bath."

"Thank god it's over." Dagomon sighed with relief. This was worse than torture.

"May I go yet Deamon?" Grizzlymon asked impatiently.

Ken didn't see what was wrong with the other Digimon. The story was interesting, so perhaps it was Deamon's voice.

"Oh dear, I'm not at full strength yet. I guess I can tell another story."

"NNNNOOOOOO!" Four voices cried out in agony.

- 01100011 01110101 01110100—

Gennai walked in with his last tray of tea and passed it out. He then pulled out a TV monitor and placed it on the table. "Gennai," Kari said, "Do you know where Tai is? He should listen to this as well."

"Izzy and I have tried to track him through his Digivice, but there is some sort of interference that prevents us from getting his location. He'll have to listen to this later, but now it is time to begin."

"What's with the TV?" Davis asked as Gennai flicked the switch. "Is there a video that goes along with your story?"

"No." The TV spoke. Static cleared and Azulongmon appeared on the screen.

"Though I would like to tell the entire story, I only know fragments of it. Azulongmon knows more of it than I."

The blue dragon chuckled. "Yes, and even I do not know everything, these events happened several millennia ago. The other Harmonious Ones prefer that I do not tell you the story, because it is so incomplete. I do believe, however, that you all have the ability and skill required to discover some of these secrets in your upcoming conflicts."

No one interrupted the dragon's reason, so the dragon began the tale.

"The story begins with the great Wall of Fire, this was long before the time of our rule, when the world was split between angels and demons. The Master of the Ligh soon discovered that the wall was breached, and that something terrible had crossed into the Digital World, something as terrible as Apocalymon had been."

The seven original Digidestined shuddered at the name of the Digimon behind the Dark Masters.

"The arrival itself wasn't what worried the Master of Light, it was that the Viral King reached it first."

"What went through the firewall?" Izzy interjected.

Patamon chirped up. "Oh, this story sounds familiar, who were these Digimon again?"

Azulongmon paused for a moment, contemplating on whether or not to tell the Digidestined. "We don't know many facts about this era of the Digital World's history." He answered. "That said, there have been enough records that survived to identify, the Master as a HolyAngemon, and the King… as a Deamon."

The name brought a hush over the group.

"So as I was saying, Deamon obtained the Digiegg first – Yes Izzy, a Digiegg." Azulongmon anticipated. "And Davis, you would definitely be scared, if not terrified, of a Digimon rumored to eat a Piedmon when it first hatched."

Nobody spoke up against the screen.

"Now if we are all done with the interruptions, I shall continue." Azulongmon said with the tone of a teacher dealing with talkative students. "Deamon found the egg and attempted to hatch it. HolyAngemon decided to bring a human to the Digital World to counter."

"Who was that guy?" Kari asked.

The dragon sighed. "Bear in mind, Kari, that there are limited records from this era. Anyways, the human had a partner, an ancient type Digimon, and the two of them were sent on a quest to gather tags to enter Deamon's base and defeat the creature. Two of them was described a unique combination, smart, strategic, carefree, and together never lost a battle."

"Never?" Matt spoke up. "Man, if we had him with us in the Digital World, it would have been so much easier."

"Right. AS I was saying, they were a great team, too great for Deamon's liking. To counter HolyAngemon, Deamon brought another human to the Digital World to hinder his progress."

"An Evil Digidestined?" Tk growled.

"The records say that evil is relative. As the two fought, the Ancient Digimon continued to grow stronger, while the other human bonded with the creature when it hatched from the egg. The creature devoured Deamon and then assaulted HolyAngemon for his data as well."

"The human betrayed Deamon?" Mimi asked.

"Serves him right." Yolie said.

"With the two energies, the creature grew to his Mega Level, and then his partner brought him beyond the limits. The Ancient grew to his mega level and brought the creature down, only for Deamon to corrupt it from the inside and become surpassed his form as well, overcoming the Mega Ancient. The pair managed to surpass their limits as well and defeated Deamon."

"Azulongmon, you're talking like they went to a level even higher than Mega." Izzy pointed out.

The dragon grew silent. "Because there is. It is a form of such power that they could completely annihilate all four Harmonious Ones with ease." He admitted to the DigiDestined's shock. "When the cataclysms started in the Digital World, we had believed that it was Deamon's work. Since then we have found too many similarities between this tale and recent findings and events."

"So we just need to find this Digidestined of Victories and his Digimon and we can save Ken." Davis simplified. "Let's start asking around then!"

Gennai sighed. "It won't be that simple Davis." The man said.

"Why?" Chibomon asked.

"Yeah! We need to save Ken!" Leafmon exclaimed.

"There's a reason why there are different rulers since then." Gennai said. "As technology in the human world advanced exponentially, so did the Digital World. The old world became obsolete as the new world began to expand. The Harmonious Ones were created from the new one and judged the fate of the old world. Since neither world was not compatible with each other decided that the old one had to be erased to be integrated into the new Digital World."

"So… basically the Digital World had to delete an old file and download a new version." Izzy interpreted.

"More like replacing the hard drive." Azulongmon said. "As we erased the old world some things happened. Most of the old world Digimon were easily reformed in this world, but there was a number who didn't make it through the process and became lost. Unfortunately, their data collected into the Dark Area and eventually formed the Digimon you knew as Apocalymon." The dragon paused to take a breath and to allow the Digidestined to take in the information. "There were Digimon, who fell through neither category. They were unable to be reformatted into our world and they were incompatible with the Dark Area. Their data simply rested in the old world, and somehow it did something to our world, destabilizing it. It had to be done."

"What do you mean?" A couple of the Digimon asked while the others whispered about this news. Chibomon wasn't sure why, but he felt a weird twinge of excitement from the story. Is there a way he could get stronger, beyond Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, or even Paladin Mode?

"To be specific, it was like a Memory Wipe. We tried to completely delete the excess data from the old world… Sure the data disappeared, but for some reason, there were unforeseen effects on the human world. People who had connections to the old world lost their memories of these events."

"So they lost their memories? That's horrible." Sora said.

"If this person doesn't remember anything then why do you think he can help us?"

Izzy began to think. Azulongmon was using a lot of computer references and talked a lot about memory wipes. "Do you think that the person could get his memories back?" He asked. "Is there some way to reboot, or backup his memories of the Digital World?"

The rest of the Digidestined looked at the Bearer of Knowledge, then to the screen of Azulongmon. "I believe it's possible." The dragon said.

"Then can you tell us who this person is?" Joe asked.

Azulongmon was about to answer when the underwater house started to shake violently. The Digidestined scurried under the table like they did in countless drills they went through at school.

"What's happening?" Yolie exclaimed.

"I think something is breaking through into the Digital World!" Izzy said.

"Can you check where it's going to emerge?" Matt asked.

"Already on it!" The Bearer of Knowledge exclaimed, furiously typing on his pineapple lap top despite the shaking. "According to my calculations, the emergence is going to be – RIGHT ON TOP OF US!"

The shaking stopped but there was still a pounding sound from outside of the house. The group rushed out and saw a Digimon slamming at the barrier. Cracks formed and water started to flood through. Gennai ran out with the TV under his arm, Azulongmon had vanished to static. The man scowled and split away the water to prevent the Digidestined from drowning.

With the water gone, the attacks on the barrier became more rapid. The Digimon smashed through the barrier and for the second time that day the Digidestined faced Grizzlymon.

The soaked bear had a vicious smile. "You're coming with me Digidestined, storytime's over." Grizzlymon said, and then muttered, "Thank goodness."

"Well look at this guy, what's with the overconfidence?" Matt scowled.

"Yeah! You're outnumbered Ten to one!" Davis declared. "What can you do?"

Grizzlymon looked at the Partner Digimon. Most were still tired from the fighting earlier, but all of them were willing to fight the bear. Easy pickings. "This." The bear Digimon smirked.

The Digidestined watched as a pulsating sphere hovering over the enemy suddenly jammed itself into the bear's flesh. Grizzlymon let out a roar of pain as the spore integrated into his data, but then let out a vile chuckle as he felt the power surge throughout his body.

"GRIZZLYMON! WARP DIGIVOLVE TO! CALLISMON!"

Yolie smacked Davis in the back of his head. "Really?" She asked.

His fur had shifted from dark purple to deep brown. His hand had three barrels attached to a device. He had large claws, a bulky build, and some clothes similar to a biker.

Izzy typed furiously into his laptop. "What? This Digimon isn't registering in my analyzer. There's a weird interference on this Digimon, I can't get its data."

Callismon aimed his gun at the Digidestined. Gennai quickly fiddled with the TV, which shimmered with light and engulfed all of the Digidestined with light. When it subsided, the entire group had vanished to the human world. The bear looked irritated that all of his prey had gone missing, but he wasn't too distraught. Hunting them all will be fun, but first…

"Hand over the TV." He growled.

Gennai looked at the machine in his hands. "No." He said as he smashed the device on the ground and quickly sped into the house. Callismon growled and aimed his arm guns.

_RODEO BULLET!_

The bullets tore through the house and created a massive fireball. After that, he walked out of the hole and headed for the nearest Digiport.

From the wreckage, Gennai climbed out of the hole that led to the archives. "May luck be with you all." He whispered his prayer as he went down to observe the coming events.

- 01100101 01101110 01100100 -

Ugh, explanation chapter is done.

Destruction, Explosions, and Jaywalking shall commence next time.

As always, thanks to those who fav/fol, and honorable mention to:

Kojo208, Summer (Guest), and Sparkle9510 for reviewing.

That's all for now,

-453


	6. Thunder Crash

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon**_

**Thunder Crash**

When he woke, he was blinded by light.

"Ugh, what's happening?" He groaned as he sat up.

"Tai! You're awake! Don't move and everything will be fine." A voice said, laced with worry. His eyesight was blurred from the light, but when his vision came back he resisted jumping to his feet. Orange electricity arched around him, striking around the concrete where he had collapsed. He noticed the other Neo and the others watching through their window.

He located the source of the sparks, his digivice, lying next to him. He slowly backed away from the device and scooped up Koromon into his arms, quickly making his way back into the house. "Koromon, do you know what's happening?"

"Sorry Tai, I haven't seen someone's Digivice trying to kill them before." The in-training squeaked.

"So are all of your days like this?" Neo asked as a spark hit their window.

"Not really. So how long was I out this time?"

"Not long, just under an hour."

"What happened since then?"

Neo and Rei filled him in on what they saw on the news. Tai reacted sourly when they told him of Ken's kidnapping and the Digidestined's defeat. Hideto was still watching the news for any more updates.

"Tai, it's not your fault." Koromon said, knowing that his partner's habit of beating himself up. "We were in no condition to fight."

"I – I know but…" The Bearer of Courage sighed. "Well I guess it wouldn't have helped them if they got electrocuted." Another spark hit the window. "I don't get what's wrong with this thing now?"

"Maybe it's all of the times that you hit it to get it to work?"

"Perhaps… Neo, can I borrow your phone? I want to see where everyone else is."

He agreed and handed Tai the phone before sitting at his desk to check the events online.

Rei went to the window and kept an eye on the malfunctioning digivice.

"Come on, pick up guys." Tai whispered to the phone. "Where are you?"

Suddenly a number went through. He could hear Mimi and the others on the line. Before he could speak, Mimi's irritated voice spoke into the phone. "Sorry," she said, "but we're being chased by a killer bear with a gun right now so you'll have to call another time."

"What?! Mimi wait!" Tai exclaimed before hearing the dial tone. "They're in trouble! Argh, where could they be?"

"Hey, Tai!" He heard Hideto exclaim. Tai rushed to the couch and saw that a giant Digimon had appeared nearby. In the pictures he saw a large brown bear.

_It's him._ A voice whispered to him. _He's powerful, stronger than them right how._

"You're right, I have to go." Tai said.

Hideto looked up at him. "What?" He asked. "Who are you?" Tai rushed out the door and stood over his sparking digivice. Neo already heard the commotion and ordered Rei to stay inside. She scoffed and waited at the window until her brother wasn't looking.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Neo asked. Koromon hopped over to Tai.

Tai gave him a strange chuckle. "I don't know myself." He said as he picked up his digivice, causing a large flash of light.

An electronic voice whined out: DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

_Thank you for riding with us today. Please watch your step as you exit the train._

The Digidestined awkwardly stepped off of the train car. The shocked passengers watched them go, not too phased by a group of ten children suddenly appearing and exiting the car.

"What happened?" Mimi asked as they exited the station.

"I think that Gennai sent us all out of the Digital World." Izzy predicted. "That must mean that Callismon must be at least a Mega Level."

"Did anyone else see that black thing?" Davis asked.

"Yeah. It really gave him a power boost." Sora noted.

Leafmon shook with rage. "It was a Black Spore!" The Digimon exclaimed.

"What!" The others said in response.

"It must be because they have Ken!" Izzy hypothesized. "Perhaps they are using them as a catalytic enhancement for their data to … (sigh) … Maybe they are doing something like Orikawa did but are using it for a cheap energy boost instead."

"Oh." Most of the Digidestined said.

"It's going to be a matter of time before Callismon finds his way to the real world. We should be on our guard when he crosses over. By then we either need to find out who this Child of Victory or at least Tai to fight back."

"Wait! Azulongmon said that those things happened several Millennia ago," Davis pointed out, "Should we start our search in the museums?"

"He actually has a point…" Matt admitted.

"For once." Chibomon added.

"Hey!" Davis said indignantly.

"Hm." Izzy thought. "No, Azulongmon was telling a tale in Digital World years. The times only stabilized a few years ago, before that time moved faster in the Digital World. Much faster."

"You're right!" Kari exclaimed. "Millennia then could have been a year or two in our world!"

"Great! So we know he's alive." Tk said. "That's at least a start. What should we do now?"

"I'm going to call Tai." Kari said. "We need all the help we can get now." She flipped open her phone and found that it had short circuited because of the water from the earlier battle. "No! It's dead!"

The others checked their own phones and found that either they weren't working, or it had run out of batteries.

"I thought I charged this!" Davis moaned.

"We sort of used the cable to reach the peanut butter." Chibomon said sheepishly.

Mimi's phone was the only one that still worked and gave it to Kari to use.

- Hello the number you have called is not available at the moment. Please hang up and try again.

The Bearer of Light gave a groan of frustration. "Great! What do we do now?"

"We should start running." Armadillomon said suddenly. The Digidestined now noticed that the busy street had declined quickly. A large bear stood in the middle of the street sniffing the air, sorting through the various smells of the city.

"I second that notion!" Cody said as he grabbed Armadillomon in his arms and ran down the street, with the rest of the Digidestined following quickly.

While they ran, Mimi's phone started to ring. "Hello? … Why yes I would like a free ticket to this month's show."

The ringing alerted Callismon to their direction. He gave a mighty roar and lumbered in their direction.

"MIMI TURN IT OFF!" Everyone yelled.

"I'll have to call you back." She said as she shut the phone. Almost instantly the phone rang again. Irritated she picked it up. "Sorry but we're being chased by a killer bear with a gun right now so you'll have to call another time." She quickly closed it again, not hearing the voice on the other line going: "What!? Mimi Wait!" She focused on running with everyone else.

"You still have some energy?" Matt asked his partner.

"Of course!" Gabumon panted.

"Gabumon Digivolve to … Garurumon!"

The blue wolf picked up the older Digidestined by the collar and threw them up, catching them on his back. "Tk!" Patamon yelled to his partner.

"Alright!" The Bearer of Hope said, seeing the plan. "Digi-Armor – "

Callismon also saw that this prey was trying to get away using their faster Digimon. He's not letting them off that easily.

_DEEP FOREST!_

Callismon blasted a round into the ground, forcing the younger Digidestined to trip. "Tk!" Matt exclaimed, stopping Garurumon in front of a park.

Davis was the first to recover, quickly grabbing his D3. "Let's take him down!" Davis declared, his digivice shining.

"Chibomon digivolve to! DemiVeemon!

DemiVeemon digivolve to! Veemon!

Veemon digivolve to! ExVeemon!"

The blue dragon stood before the great bear. He gave a battlecry and punched him in the face. Callismon didn't even flinch. The bear swatted him away.

Callimon scoffed and aimed his gun. "Weak."

_RODE-_

"AGH!" Callismon kneed down on to the ground holding his head in pain.

"Now who's weak!" Davis cheered.

"Don't know my own strength." Exveemon said, staring at his fist.

The Digidestined took advantage of Callismon's pain and headed straight for the park.

Callismon shook off the pain, his calm, haughty demeanor shifted to one filled with rage and bloodlust. "Bastard!" The bear roared. "Your tricks won't save you now! I will find every last one of you!" Callismon charged after the others into the park.

Garurumon collapsed in exhaustion and degenerated down to Tsunomon. "Are you alright buddy?" Matt asked as he scooped up his friend.

"Yeah." He replied. "Just… sleepy… zzz."

From behind them, Veemon, who degenerated to avoid detection, and the rest of the younger group caught up to them.

"Izzy did you find anything out about him yet?" Mimi asked the redhead, who took the opportunity to fiddle with his analyzer.

The Bearer of Knowledge shook his head. "No, there's something weird about his data. For some reason, this guy's data is split. One half is Grizzlymon's coding, and the other is some weird code that's preventing me from getting any data from Callismon."

"Well, Exveemon can take him, so maybe it's an armor level or something." Davis said confidently. "Right?"

Veemon nodded confidently. "Of course!"

"No, what did Grizzlymon say when he changed?" Izzy asked. No one answered, because most of them were covering their ears at the time to block out his roars.

"I think I heard digivolve." Tk thought back.

"So it's at least an Ultimate." Yolie thought. "Hawkmon, do you and Gatomon have enough energy to DNA digivolve?"

"Yes we do!" He chirped.

"We can help too!" Patamon said as well.

They heard the bear's lumbering coming closer and closer, until they saw towering over the trees. "NOW!" Tk yelled.

"Patamon Digivolve to… Angemon!"

"Hawkmon Digivolve to… Aquilamon!"

"Armadillomon Digivolve to… Ankylomon!"

"Angemon … Ankylomon … DNA Digivolve to… Shakkoumon!"

"Aquilamon … Gatomon … DNA Digivolve to … Silphymon!"

The three digimon ambushed the bear, knocking him back a bit before firing all of their attacks on him.

…

"Did we get him?" Kari asked.

_RODEO BULLET!_

Callismon shook off the attacks as if nothing had happened and shot three rounds at the Digimon. The bullets streaked at the three Digimon and exploded on impact. They degenerated to weak levels and fell back across the park.

"Guys don't!" Matt yelled when the younger Digidestined charged to their partners' side.

"I've had enough of you lot!" Callismon yelled as he lunged forward and grabbed TK in one hand and Davis in the other. Both boys yelled as the bear tightened his grip on them. Their partners squirmed in their hands despite their exhaustion. "I'm going to finish what should have been done a long time ago!"

Suddenly dark clouds appeared in the sky where it was clear seconds ago. Thunder and rain fell down quickly. A portal appeared in the sky, with the sounds of an ocean rushing through and collecting with the sounds of the sudden downpour.

Callismon chucked Tk through the portal, and the two vanished into the darkness. "That's one." He prepared to toss Davis up as well. "And here's two!" Callismon roared, before getting blindsided by a streak of orange.

Davis was released and fell into the mud, Chibomon safe in his hands. Even though he was soaked in by the rain, he couldn't help but stay there for a couple moments longer. WarGreymon stood in the storm, water dripping down his armor, illuminated by each flash of lightning. On the dragon warrior's shoulder was Tai, hair slightly drooping due to the rain. He noticed that the portal had vanished into nothing.

Callismon was quickly on his feet. He growled at the sight of his new enemy, but when he glanced at Tai, he became more enraged than before.

"TAI!" Davis exclaimed in the mud.

"TAI!" Everyone else cried out when they identified the brunette.

"WARGREYMON!" Chibomon squeaked happily.

"YOU!" He roared with a voice rivaling the booming thunder.

_RODEO BULLET!_

- 01100101 01101110 01100100 -

Friday Update! Yay!

Enjoy.

Thanks to those that fav/fol

and to that one Guest and Kojo208 for the reviews.

-453


	7. Flickering Flames

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon_**

**Flickering Flames**

_Partner. I'm here partner. My heart is always with you. You just need to find it._

Earlier:

"I'm going." Neo declared. Tai suddenly had the strange device on his hand, and caused the pink ball to change into a tall armored warrior who flew away.

"Right! Let's go!" Rei exclaimed.

"No." Both boys said instantly.

"Hideto, you stay here too."

Hideto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure." He responded.

A rumbling could be heard in the distance. Neo sighed. "Just stay behind me and don't get lost. Also get me my umbrella. It looks like a storm's coming."

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

_RODEO BULLET!_

Tai jumped off WarGreymon's shoulder while yelling, "Charge!" WarGreymon quickly obeyed and flew straight into the bullet storms. The others flinched as WarGreymon narrowly avoided the explosive bullets.

"NO!" Kari screamed when she realized that the bullets were now heading towards Tai.

Before the bullets hit him, they curved and raced toward WarGreymon. While most of the others were relieved that Tai was safe, Izzy's mind started racing. _How did he know that the bullets would follow WarGreymon? We didn't get any info on Callismon and he just got here as well!_

WarGreymon stopped in front of Callismon and quickly swerved around the bear, causing Callismon to get hit by his own attack. The blast made Callismon stumble on his feet, allowing WarGreymon to land a few blows on him.

Callismon recovered and began to hit back with powerful blows. As fast as WarGreymon was, he couldn't fully avoid the punches and had to guard with his gauntlets until he could return a few hits of his own. WarGreymon was forced to move back.

While the other Digidestined watched the intense match, Matt glanced at Tai for a moment and saw him looking at something on his hand. It looked like a watch. "Now's not the time to check if the game's on! Matt thought as his attention snapped back to the fight when WarGreymon managed to hit Callismon in the face again, forcing the bear to stumble back a bit.

_TERRA –_

_DEEP FOREST!_

Callismon quickly shot a round into the ground, creating spikes which crashed into WarGreymon, disrupting his main attack. WarGreymon roared and slammed into Callismon pushing the two away deeper into the park. Tai stopped looking at the watch on his hand and faced the Digidestined. "Guys, get to safety." He yelled. "We'll hold him off while we can!"

The Digidestined quickly obeyed and brought their partners out of the danger zone. Tai then went and followed his partner. He fiddled with his watch, which appeared in his hand instead of his digivice. "Man, Izzy's going to have a field day with this thing." He chuckled. So far he easily figured out how to scan Digimon and obtain files of their data… but it didn't feel much like he figured it out, it felt more like he was remembering something that he had forgotten.

Tai thought about what he had seen while he was down. He didn't what to think about some of the things he had seen, but right now he remembered that this creature was dangerous. The Bearer of Courage managed to reached the brawl, and saw that WarGreymon wasn't in the greatest of conditions. His armor was dented and a couple of his claws had snapped off. Callismon's body bore many fresh cuts and stab wounds. Tai found a couple of WarGreymon's claws protruding out of the bear's flesh.

Both Digimon stood undaunted as rainwater soaked into their wounds. Tai scanned them both and saw that both of them were running low on health. With another strike of lightning, the two lunged at each other, starting another round of their brawl. Tai looked through Callismon's data, hoping to see some weakness WarGreymon could exploit. _His attack is powerful,_ Tai noted, _and his defense isn't bad either. Terra Force could finish him off, but everyone would be in danger if it misses._

An explosive round of the Rodeo Bullet made Tai stumble on his feet. When he looked back to his digivice, he found that the data had switched over to WarGreymon's data. Tai gave a groan of exasperation as he fiddled around with it to try to get back to Callismon's data.

DEEP FOREST!  
MEGA CLAW!

The attack created cracks and spike all over the battlefield, causing the remaining trees to become uprooted.

"Stats, Hunger," Tai muttered as he tried to figure out the device in the rain. "These are useless! Uplinks, Attacks, Personality – Wait, Attacks? …Hmm that's new."

Time to take a gamble. "WARGREYMON!" He called to his partner. His words became lost in the noise of the battle. Tai went back to his digivice and entered some words into it and pointed it towards his partner. "Please let this work." He prayed. UPLINK!

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

The Digidestined scrambled out of the park. They scurried to get out of the rain and found some refuge under an alcove. They could still hear the explosions coming from the park. The rain started to come down heavily, obscuring their view even further.

"Hey you guys!" A voice exclaimed.

They turned around and saw a guy holding an umbrella. He had white hair and wearing a t-shirt with peace signs on his sleeves. "Have you seen a girl in a wheelchair? Or a tall guy pushing her?"

"No…" Matt answered.

"How about a guy with tall hair and goggles?" The boy asked. Another explosion could be heard over the rain and thunder. "Um, nevermind." He said before rushing toward the sound.

"Hey wait!" Joe exclaimed, but the guy already headed into the park.

"Just who does he think he is?" Mimi sighed.

"We can't just let him go alone!" Joe pointed out. "He could be killed…. Or worse!"

"It's not like we can help him now." Yolie sighed.

"Come on guys!" Matt exclaimed hotly. "We're not losing anyone else today!" He entrusted Tsunomon to Kari and rushed out of the alcove.

"That includes you!" Sora growled as she pulled him back into the alcove.

Matt struggled but couldn't break free from her powerful grip. He squirmed a bit before relenting to her. "Fine." He sighed. Another blast came from the park demanding the Digidestined's attention, it attracted all of them except for Izzy. The Bearer of Knowledge was thinking over their random encounter with the boy, who didn't seem to have been surprised by the Digimon. _Maybe..._ He thought.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

The plan seemed crazy, seemingly impossible, and cool. Not to mention he got the instructions uploaded directly into his head. Hehe, today was just full of excitement.

RODE BULLET!

Speaking of which…

WarGreymon narrowly dodged another round of the explosive bullets that devastated the trees behind him. They were getting weaker, but a direct hit would still be devastating. The dragon warrior took cover behind one of the many large spikes that resulted from their battle. Callismon lost sight of him because of the explosion. The bear gave an irritated growl and yelled at WarGreymon. "COME OUT YOU WEAKLING! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU LOT AGAIN!"

"Again? What's he talking about?" WarGreymon muttered. "What's wrong old man? Is Alzheimer kicking in already?" He taunted.

Callismon roared and started firing blindly.

RODEO BULLET! DEEP FOREST! RODEO BULLET!

Explosions detonated and swiftly decimated the remains of the park. WarGreymon heard a sharp squeal coming from a side of the park. He looked over and saw Rei and Hideto standing near the battlefield and Tai had a grim look on his face as well. Callismon also noticed the new arrivals, and a smirk grew on his face.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tai exclaimed, half hoping to draw attention away from them.

"We… got lost?" Hideto said sheepishly.

"How touching." Callismon growled. "The Gang's all together at last. I won't fail this time!" He roared as he aimed his gun at the human pair.

"NO!" WarGreymon exclaimed as he shot out of his cover to intercept the shot.

RODEO –

"REI!" A sharp voice intercepted. Callismon shifted his attention over to the source. Neo stood on the opposite side of the park. The bear digimon paused for a moment, his eyes widened. "What are you doing here?" He whimpered.

NOW! A message said in his mind. WarGreymon quickly charged and blindsided Callismon while he was distracted. "Who called for an airlift?" WarGreymon said as he lifted Callismon into the hectic skies. Thunder thrashed along with the bear, who roared indignantly. "LET GO!"

"IF YOU SAY SO!" The dragon warrior roared back as he chucked Callismon back down to the ground. The spikes on the ground pierced into the bear's flesh on impact, pinning him into the ground.

Above, WarGreymon poised himself above and raised his Dramon Destroyer. Though battered and cracked, the gauntlet shimmered with a warm orange energy. Blue sparks danced around the weapon like the lightning behind him. Then the dragon warrior descended down like rain, crashing down on the immobile Callismon.

_WAR DRIVER!_

Callismon shuddered as the attack struck him directly on the stomach. His data shook as it became more and more unstable. The bear gave one last look at WarGreymon and left a sinister chuckle. "You'll never be as strong as him." He growled weakly.

"Deamon will never see me coming." WarGreymon said between breaths.

"I never meant Deamon. The past can never be forgotten, it will always find you." Callismon gave a vicious chuckle as his body dissolved away, his data spreading in yellow pieces.

With the threat gone, WarGreymon gave a tired sigh and collapsed on to the ground, degenerating down to Koromon.

Tai quickly ran over and picked him up. "Good job buddy, you were awesome."

"Thanks." The in-training said. "…I did well, right?"

Tai smiled at his partner. "You're the best, buddy." He chuckled. Above them, a ray of light shone through the clouds, the rain had lightened up. "Come on let's go to the others, they must be getting worried by now."

"Right… I'll just sleep for now… I'm tired… tired..zzz." Tai tucked the little Digimon under his arm and looked around for the other three kids, but could not find them. "Maybe they left?" Tai thought as he raced to the last place where he saw his friends.

After a while he found them resting under an alcove. They cheered when they saw him.

"Where have you been?" Sora asked.

"I… got caught up in something." Tai said sheepishly. "So, did I miss anything important while I was out?"

Matt sighed and patted Tai's damp hair. "We'll fill you in as we go." He sighed and led the group to the long journey home.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

"So Callismon failed." Deamon sighed. "Oh well, he didn't really accomplish much the first time either, but at least he managed to capture the Bearer of Hope."

Deamon and his allies sat in a circle. Ken helped an irritant Tk in their cage. Tokomon slept in a smaller cage beside theirs.

Dagomon chuckled, playing with the six beads in around his neck. "Only one more and everything shall be ready."

"Indeed it might be." MarineDevimon agreed. "But what of the Digidestined? Could they really stand up to our might?"

"If they do we'll crush them!" SkullSatamon cheered. "Crush them into paste! HEE HEE HEE!"

"The Digidestined may be troublesome, as I've said, but more memories are returning to me with each moment. If most of them are true, then they'll tear themselves apart once the truth comes out."

"When do you think we can attack them again?" Dagomon asked.

"It might take a few days. Creating all of those portals at once took more from me than I expected." Deamon admitted. "All we can do is wait and watch until then."

"Sounds reasonable." MarineDevimon said.

"So who wants to hear a story?"

"NO!"

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Callismon's data floated in the ruins of the park. Neo hopped along the mud next to the fallen trees. "Rei! Hideto! Where are you?" He exclaimed. "Ugh, those two always find trouble." Neo passed through another cluster of data.

Neo reached the area were Callismon got deleted. He noticed some movement in the area. "Guys?" He asked out loud. Neo looked at the data flying towards the area, collecting into one spot. He waded through the mud and picked up the data cluster. In a flash of light, the cluster reformed into a pulsing black sphere. The pulsing grew rapidly until the sphere shattered again leaving something else in his gloved hand.

Neo looked at what remained and gave a small chuckle. "Heart huh?" He commented as he slipped the small black trinket into his pocket.

- 01100101 01101110 01100100 -

The first arc of the story is DONE! Hope you guys have enjoyed this so far.

The next part will come as I plan it out.

Thanks to the people who faved and followed since last time,

and again thanks to:

Suntan140, Kojo208, Brendanmudk, and Kawaii123

for reviewing!

-453


	8. Building Smoke

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon._**

**Building Smoke**

Izzy groaned in exhaustion. Heavy bags lined his eyes as they looked over long lines of code for the hundredth time. It has been a few days since the fights and everyone seemed tired, especially the Bearer of Knowledge. "ARGH! What's with these codes!?" Izzy sighed. He grabbed his cup of coffee and swallowed the entire cup in one sitting. He took a gasp of air and returned to his computer. The Bearer of Knowledge jumped when he felt something on his shoulder.

"Anything yet Izzy?" Matt asked. The Bearer of Friendship looked equally tired, looking at another screen in the room.

"Tch, no. These codes are encrypted so well that my programs can't decipher them. Anything on the radar?"

"No." Matt sighed resting his head on the desk. "How do you think he's doing?" he asked.

"Cheer up Matt." Gabumon said as he lumbered into the room. "We'll find him soon. Something's bound to happen eventually."

"Yeah, but will we be ready for it?" Izzy said, looking over his data once more. "If I can discover the codes that differentiate Tai's watch and our Digivices, then perhaps I can potentially upgrade ours as well."

"But you have squat." Tentomon buzzed into the room.

"Yeah…" Izzy admitted. "The programs I have running it aren't responding to any of these codes as if they are… different – THAT'S IT!" The Digidestined furiously typed into his computer.

"You got something Izzy?" Matt yawned, picking up his cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I thought these codes were different because they were a newer model of the Digivice."

"Isn't it?" Matt questioned, remembering the programs that the watch could do.

"Let me finish. Though I could easily identify the original Digivice's coding in Tai's device, I found unidentified codes in it as well that created the upgrades. Using the D3 data as a base, I created a program to find the new coding."

"My head hurts." Tentomon complained, "Cut to the chase if you don't mind Izzy."

"If the codes weren't new, then they are probably older codes."

"Older?" Matt asked, taking another sip of his drink.

"Yeah, perhaps this is an inert code that was already in the Digivice, not like the codes that created the D3's. Hold on I just need to modify my program a bit." Izzy murmured while typing. "Alright! This should – ACK! Matt! What's wrong with you?!"

Izzy scrambled to grab a towel to wipe away the coffee from his machines before they damage the circuits. He turned over to Matt to yell at him, but noticed that the Bearer of Friendship had collapsed on the desk.

"NO! MATT!" He turned to the Digimon. "Make sure he's alright, I'll call an ambulance." Suddenly the phone rang.

"Hello?" He asked.

- Izzy!

"Mimi? What's the matter?"

- It's Sora, she collapsed all of a sudden!

"What? The same thing happened with Matt!"

- Oh no! Did you call the hospital?

"I'll do it now, did you?"

- Kari's calling right now. What's happening Izzy?

"I don't know… Alright then I'll go and call the – AH!" Izzy exclaimed. Pain seared through his chest. It felt like a heart attack, but then it started to drain his energy. All his strength left him, and he collapsed on the floor.

- Izzy? IZZY!

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

Tai paced nervously in front of the hospital door. Koromon bounced along on by his side. "Tai." His friend squeaked, knowing that in some way, he was blaming himself.

The Bearer of Courage picked up his friend. "Come on buddy, let's see if anything's happened."

"It's only been ten minutes." Koromon sighed.

Tai entered the hospital room, his five of his friends slept in the beds. The doctors told him that all of them had collapsed from exhaustion. He scoffed at the memory and sat next to Matt's bed. Their Digimon partners also collapsed at the same time. A ruckus appeared at the door and moments later, the remaining Digidestined funneled into the room.

"Are they still out?" Kari asked worriedly, handing him a canned drink.

"Cold." Tai replied.

"Well it was straight from the vending machine." DemiVeemon chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, and failing.

"Why do you think this happened?" Gatomon sighed.

The group thought for a moment. "Maybe it has something to do with their crests?" Cody suggested. "They did say that Dagomon had orbs that had the crest symbols inside of them."

"But even if Deamon is behind all of this, how do we get to the Dark Ocean." Upamon pointed out. "Ken could struggle to open a gate, but he got kidnapped."

"Right." Poromon sighed. "I believe it is fruitless to attack them directly."

"He's right." Cody said. "There's nothing much we can do but wait for them to come to us."

"So what do we do now?" Davis asked.

Tai lifted up his Digivice. "Well, Izzy was researching about this for the last couple of days. So maybe he had something before he crashed.

"Alright then!" Davis suddenly declared. "We're going to Izzy's!"

"Quiet down in there." A passing nurse scolded.

"Ah, sorry." Davis whispered. Demiveemon and Minomon hopped over to Izzy's bed and took his keys.

"Let's go!" The blue Digimon chuckled. The group left as swiftly as they came. Tai chuckled and prepared to follow them. He put his hands into his pockets and felt something in them. Pulling out a piece of paper, Tai read the small amount of text

Kari poked her head back into the room. "Tai, are you coming?" She asked sweetly.

"What? Um, no." Tai said, slipping the note back into his pocket. "Something came up."

"Alright then, see you later."

"Bye, and don't let Davis wreck the computer."

"Hey!" Davis exclaimed from the hallway. "It's not my fault I keep getting the millionth visitor prizes!"

"Will do." Kari said before leaving.

Tai took another glance at his sleeping friends and quickly left the room with Koromon bouncing quickly to catch up.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

He clicked on the lights and groaned at mess that appeared out of the darkness. Papers were scattered about on the floor, boxes knocked over with their contents spilling out with a trail leading to a messy hiding place.

"So that's how she found me." Sigma chuckled to himself. He rummaged through the debris and started to cram various objects back into the boxes. "Wow, this stuff is so old." The teen commented. Old cellphones, homework sheets, and knickknacks went back into their boxes.

He continued to put away the various objects, stopping occasionally to brush his bangs away from his face. Sigma picked up an object and paused to look at it. "Weird, did Neo leave things over here again?" He fingered the cracks and sharp edges on the metallic mask, and then looked over at the time. "I'm sure they're home."

Sigma headed for the door, then took a glimpse at the mess that remained behind him. "I'll do it later." He convinced himself as he left.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

"Hi Mrs. Izumi." Kari greeted as the group entered into the house.

"Hello Kari." Izzy's mother greeted. "Is Izzy alright?" She added worriedly.

"Yes, the doctor said that he'll recover once he gets some rest." Kari answered.

"Alright then." She sighed with relief and let the group into the house.

The younger Digidestined went into Izzy's room. They looked at the codes that he had been looking at. After a moment or so, most of them could hear Davis groan at the amount of text streaming across the screen. "So do you guys know how to work this thing?" Davis studdered.

Yolie cracked her fingers and sat down on the coffee smelling chair. "No problem." She chuckled.

After a few minutes, Yolie slammed her head on the table in frustration. "Big problem." She complained.

"Are you alright?" Poromon asked worriedly.

She rubbed her eyes and went back computer. "Yeah, it's harder than I anticipated. No wonder it took Izzy a while. But with all the work he put in I should have this finished in no time!"

-LATER-

"I can't do this." Yolie groaned in despair.

"Maybe you need a break." Cody suggested. "You can't accomplish much if you're tired. I don't think any of us have gotten any sleep ever since the attacks."

"Yeah, I'll go lie down for a bit." She agreed.

"I'll take over." Davis said.

"What." The others said flatly.

"What?" Davis asked back, sitting down on the chair.

Kari and Cody looked at Yolie. Since neither Ken nor Tk were here now, Yolie had to deal with Davis over the last couple of days. She sighed. "Whatever, just don't break it."

"Really?" Poyomon asked.

"Come on, if Izzy couldn't do it, do you think Davis can?"

"No, but he might break it, and then Izzy will go to jail!" Upamon whimpered.

"Come on!" Davis exclaimed. "It's not like it'll explode if I touch it!"

"I don't have the energy to deal with this." Yolie sighed, turning to the door. "Let him do what he wants. As long as he doesn't break it then – " Yolie got cut off by a loud alarm. "DAVIS WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!"

"I didn't touch it!" Davis cringed.

"It's coming from here!" Kari said, pointing out to a laptop next to the computer.

"What is it saying?" Demiveemon said as he jumped up to desk level to look at the screen.

"A disaster is occurring in the Digital World." Kari read. "They're here."

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

Earlier:

"Do you have it?" Deamon impatiently asked.

"Of course." Dagomon said. He tossed a Black Spore to the Deamon Lord. The black sphere hummed with power and pulsed quickly. "We need only one more Crest before they are all like that." The aquatic Digimon reported.

"Great! Or as that annoying Digidestined girl keeps saying, 'Perfecto'." Deamon chortled at Ken's expense. The Bearer of Kindness looked bad and had Tk sleeping next to him. Ken gave no response to the comment, all of his spite faded a few days ago. Now he just wanted to go home. "Tsk, no fun anymore." The Demon Lord of Wrath commented. "SKULLSATAMON!"

"YES SIR!" SkullSatamon screamed into Deamon's face.

"DON'T – sigh – don't do that. Here." Deamon said before handing the spore over to the skeleton.

"So it's my turn." He chuckled, sizing up the pulsing item in his hand. "Who are we getting now?"

Deamon hovered to the cage and pulled out Tk. "Tie him up and try not to damage him too much." He said, tossing the boy at SkullSatamon.

"Why?" SkullSatamon asked, considering the lack of strength he actually had to use to crush every bone in the DigiDestined's body.

"Because having a live hostage will be better than having a dead one." Deamon explained.

SkullSatamon gave TK a soft growl before shifting the sound back to his usual chuckle. "Fine then, but you still have to tell me who you want me to target."

Deamon opened a portal. "It's pretty dark in this place." The Demon Lord stated. "It'll be great if we had something to Light-en up the place."

"Perfect." SkullSatamon chuckled as he entered the portal.

As the portal closed, Deamon brought his claw to his chin under his cloak. "MarineDevimon." He ordered.

The demon emerged from the black waters and bowed in front of Deamon. "You called for me Master?"

Deamon tossed him a Black Spore and created another portal. "Watch him."

"As you wish." MarineDevimon bowed before heading into the portal.

01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100

Tai stepped out of the computer and swiftly walked down the Tokyo streets again. "Tai, why are we here?" Koromon asked.

"I need to talk to them again." Tai answered, much to the confusion of the other people in the street.

"Rei and the others? Why?"

"Because I just realized, if Neo also crashed, then maybe he has some memories as well! So if we match up what we remember, then maybe we can discover something to help take down Deamon!" Tai grinned as he continued to race down the street.

"That's great!" Koromon exclaimed. "So how do we get to their house again?"

Tai suddenly stopped in the middle of the street. "Crap."

- 01100101 01101110 01100100 -

Hey guys... It's been a while. Things have been crazy here and cooldown chapters aren't my forte, but here it is.

Well anyways, thanks for reading. Special thanks to those who followed and favorited.

Another thanks to : Kojo208, Brandon-mudk, Emeraldpichu, AntauriFangirl13, and guest for reviewing.

Till next time,

-453


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